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imaginings

Posted 28/01/2010 in - royby.com

It’s been a long time coming, but I’ve finally got around to re-building an image gallery. It’s in it’s early stages as far as content goes yet, but I have created a section I’ve called “Portraits of Viet Nam” which, as the name suggests are images of people that I’ve taken over the years while traveling throughout VN, or just walking in my neighbourhood.

I’ve placed these images quite randomly and I hope that a picture emerges of the life and people of this country as they are clicked through.

Anyhow, you get to the gallery by clicking on “Imaginings” in the nav. bar above or in the direct link to Portraits. Keep checking from time to time as I have many more images that I will post as time permits.

LARGE Expression Engine sites

Posted 27/01/2010 in - a weblog about weblogging

Web developers and Expression Engine (EE) experts, Hop Studios have researched what they believe to be the “largest” sites developed using EE as the content management system. The criteria for “largest” site was based on the monthly number of unique visitors + number of entries/comments + number of members/forum posts + awards/buzz (I really hate that word, “buzzzzz”), plus Hop Studios own good judgment.

This eventually led to a list of the 32 sites deemed “very large”, and who could fail but to be impressed with some of the figures they have unearthed. change.gov, Obamas presidential transition site leads the way, but if a confirmed ranking of 20,000,000 page visits per month for iLounge (an iPod & iPhonesite) is impressive then try the unconfirmed number of 31,000,000 pages per month for All K Pop (a Korean celebrity news site). Staggering.

Anyway, you can view the results and criteria here.

Asian gang skims $50m via EFTPOS

Posted 22/01/2010 in - royby.com

Skimming is the common term for credit/debit card fraud and amazingly, in recent weeks a gang from, “a particular part of Asia” has skimmed approx. A$50million from Australian bank accounts. Westpac bank have blocked over 10,000 of their customers cards while police involved in the investigation say it’s the biggest attack of this type they have seen.

Amazingly, the gang has been able to target the EFTPOS machines of fast food retailers, particularly McDonald’s. According to reports, gang members have been able to enter McDonald’s stores, steal their counter-top EFTPOS machines, take them outside, insert a chip and return it to the store counter. Then it’s just a matter of receiving the card information via bluetooth to a laptop close by and viola! No money left in your bank account. But how in hell have gang members been able to temporarily steal the machines without being noticed?

One thing’s for sure, when I get back to Australia later this year I won’t be using my cards anywhere, especially fast food outlets. I’ll be drawing cash from the bank and using that thanks very much.

Here’s some links to articles relating to this scam:

Big whopper: A costly burger
Gangs skim $50m from EFTPOS machines
Westpac blocks 10,000 skimmed cards in NSW

Spam mail linked to credible news article

Posted 13/01/2010 in - royby.com

I received an e-mail today that, on first appearance, looked like just another spam mail offering to deposit millions of dollars into my bank account. However, this one is a little bit different. The sender claims to be an ex US Army Major and to help convince me of the seriousness of his desire to give me something, he links to an April 2003 article on BBC News. The article reports on massive amounts of cash found by US troops in Baghdad.

Hey, I’m convinced, count me in.

Here’s a copy of the e-mail with the link to the article. Please don’t trample me in the rush.

Greetings,
Please forgive me for the unofficial way of reaching you via email Contacting you is the only option left to me due to the doctors report on my deteriorating health condition which raised a lot of worries regarding some amount of money i secured during my active service .
For you to understand my plight better, let me start by introducing my self to you , My name is Major Roger V Howison from Greenfield, MA. USA, a member of the U.S. ARMY USARPAC Medical Team, which was deployed to Iraq in the beginning of the war in Iraq,
Presently i am disabled due to the my bad experience and role which I played in the pursuit of my career serving under the U.S 1st Armored which was at the fore-front of the war in Iraq
Please find time to view the site below as it will be very useful for better understanding.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2988455.stm
Having gone through the site, please feel free to contact me for details of what i want to entrust in your care.
Waiting to hear from you
Thanks,
Best Regards
Major Roger V Howison

 

Google to end censorship in China; may pull out

Posted 13/01/2010 in - a weblog about weblogging

Yesterday, Google released a detailed blog post discussing the decision to review its policy towards China after they uncovered cyber attacks on their corporate infrastructure. The attacks, Google say, were aimed at accessing the accounts of Chinese human rights activists.

Google said, “These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered—combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the web—have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China. We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all. We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China.”

Reportedly, this incident has been “the straw that broke the camel’s back,” as far as Google’s presence in China is concerned. Interestingly, Google has struggled to make a financial success of its Chinese operation and it trails the Chinese search engine Baidu by a significant margin.

Olli Erkkila and the forkless cruiser

Posted 24/12/2009 in - royby.com

This forkless bicycle was a graduation project from 28 year old Finnish designer Olli Erkkila. It looks a bit odd but the video footage on the article page shows that it rides like a normal cycle.

Way cool, but could you dink someone on the handlebars I wonder!

View article here | Visit Erkkila’s site

Viet Nam football frenzy

Posted 15/12/2009 in - royby.com

This video footage was taken just after Viet Nam defeated Singapore 4-1 in the semi final of the SEA Games football competition. Thousands of people take to the streets whenever Viet Nam wins a football match to celebrate in a flag waving, noisy frenzy. It’s fun to watch but hell if you have to drive through it to get somewhere. The location is the roundabout at the end of Dien Bien Phu where it meets up with Ly Thai To and Le Hong Phong streets.

Football traffic

Posted 14/12/2009 in - royby.com

Tonight Viet Nam defeated Singapore 4-1 in the semi-final of the SEA Games. Anytime VN win is a great excuse for blowing off some steam and celebrating en-mass. After the game we walked down to the roundabout where Dien Bien Phu meets up with Ly Thai To and Le Hong Phong to watch some of the action. I guess there will be a repeat celebration if Viet Nam defeat Malaysia in the final this Thursday

* Ultimately Malaysia defeated Viet Nam 1-0 in the final in what I thought was a lacklustre performance by Viet Nam.

People out celebrating the win crowd the streets


Lan joins in the celebration


Police were positioned all round the intersection just looking on quietly

Expression Engine - finally!!

Posted 10/12/2009 in - a weblog about weblogging

It was over 12 months ago that I wrote this article explaining the reasons why I made the decision to upgrade from pMachine to Expression Engine as my Content Management System (CMS). But a lot of other things have been going on in my life over the past year, and learning the intricacies of EE has been too tiring to contemplate.

However, I couldn’t stand the nagging thought in the back of my head that something was being left undone (it was a bit like when you avoid doing the washing or ironing), so eventually I bit the bullet and dug into the documentation and tutorials to see what EE is all about. Gaining an understanding of how EE works seemed very daunting at first, but like anything, once you get into it and begin to play around, things begin to full into place (although I’m not sure that I’ve had the “light bulb moment” that the EE team constantly refer to as yet).

Anyway, “royby.com” and “a weblog about weblogging” are now both powered by EE but I’m still on a steep learning curve as I look over the myriad of plug-ins, extensions and modules available to me. I’m also contemplating a change to the overall navigation set-up and of course there is the image gallery to get back up and running. A lot of work to come yet and a general lack of time in which to do it. However, I’ll keep plugging away at it.

The great thing is that comments are now working properly, so please, leave me a comment, as is the member registration set up.

hartney-hornsby “Bring Out Your Grandmothers Tour”. Ha Giang - Cao Bang

Posted 20/11/2009 in - royby.com

I’ve just posted the third and final lot of images from our recent “Bring Out Your Grandmothers” motorbike tour.

Clicking on the image below will bring up the slideshow in my gallery. Please enjoy.

 

hartney-hornsby “Bring Out Your Grandmothers Tour”. Ha Giang - Cao Bang

Posted 18/11/2009 in - royby.com

Ok ok, I know, I know. “Bring Out Your Grandmothers Tour”. What the??

Well, we were discussing a name for the trip. Then recalled the Rolling Stones “Lock Up Your Daughters” tour.

So, it kinda fits huh??

Ma Pi Leng Pass, Dong Van - Meo Vac - 2 videos

Posted 18/11/2009 in - royby.com

I decided to take these short videos of this valley because it was impossible to take a still image that would convey the massive nature of this system.